DOCSLIB.ORG

Perceptions of the Public Transport Service As a Barrier to the Adoption of Public Transport: a Qualitative Study

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Perceptions of the Public Transport Service As a Barrier to the Adoption of Public Transport: a Qualitative Study social sciences $€ £ ¥ Article Perceptions of the Public Transport Service as a Barrier to the Adoption of Public Transport: A Qualitative Study Sara Ramos 1, Paula Vicente 2,*, Ana M. Passos 2, Patrícia Costa 3 and Elizabeth Reis 2 1 Dinâmia’CET, ISCTE–Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Avenida das Forças Armadas, 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal; [email protected] 2 Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL), ISCTE–Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Avenida das Forças Armadas, 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal; [email protected] (A.M.P.); [email protected] (E.R.) 3 Católica Research Center for Psychological, Family and Social Well-Being, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, R. Palma de Cima, 1649-023 Lisbon, Portugal; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +351-217650207 Received: 8 March 2019; Accepted: 7 May 2019; Published: 11 May 2019 Abstract: This article presents the outcomes of a qualitative study involving users of public transportation in the metropolitan area of Lisbon in order to obtain a deeper understanding of attitudes towards public transport and to explore perceptions of the public transport service. It is important to know what people think and feel about public transport so that strategies can be designed to attract people to public transport. Ethnographic interviews and focus group discussions were conducted to identify factors that potentially influence people’s perceptions and determine their satisfaction, or dissatisfaction with the public transport service. The key findings suggest that public transport usage would increase if the level of service was brought in line with users’ expectations; more specifically, there should be a better connection between inter-modal options, more compliance with timetables, and a more appropriate response to users’ needs. Keywords: public transportation; passenger satisfaction; transport modes; qualitative research; Portugal 1. Introduction The European Framework Program for Research and Innovation—Horizon 2020—sets transport as a priority area for research and intervention until 2020. The aim is to facilitate citizens’ mobility while reducing traffic congestion in cities, and to promote a more efficient and environmentally friendly use of resources (European Commission 2017). Current passenger transport systems in most cities are overwhelmingly reliant on private cars. The risks of this dependence on cars—increased social and economic costs and environmental impacts—mean that cost-effective and less-polluting alternatives must be found to efficiently serve urban mobility. The provision of faster and more convenient public transport would make long urban journeys unnecessary and allow existing roads to be used more efficiently (Chowdhury and Ceder 2016; European Commission 2013; Wardman 2014). Many countries are investing heavily in public transport systems to make them more attractive, greener and more competitive than private cars (European Environmental Agency 2013). However, a quantitative or qualitative increase in supply does not lead to a corresponding increase in the adoption of public transport per se. Barcelona, Berlin, London, Lisbon and Rome are examples of European cities where public transit agencies have intensified their efforts to improve supply, but the share of trips made by public transport continues to be lower than that of the private car (Land Transport Authority 2011). This should serve as a warning to transit agencies of the need to find alternative policies that promote Soc. Sci. 2019, 8, 150; doi:10.3390/socsci8050150 www.mdpi.com/journal/socsci Soc. Sci. 2019, 8, 150 2 of 16 a shift from the private car to public transport service. The implementation of policies aimed at increasing public transport use requires a clear understanding of travel behaviors which influence the decision to use modes of transport other than the car, as well as passenger attitudes, expectations, needs, and the perception of the existing quality of the public transport service. Therefore, research that sheds light on these issues can be used by transit managers to draw up more effective strategies to improve passenger satisfaction, increase transit market share, and ultimately stimulate sustainable mobility in urban areas (Beirão and Cabral 2007; Fellesson and Friman 2008; Fujii and Kitamura 2003). The Metropolitan Authority of Lisbon Transport (MALT) is the state/public entity that is responsible for regulating and supervising mobility by road, river and rail transport and the related infrastructure within the metropolitan area of Lisbon (MAL). The MAL has long been identified as having a serious problem of traffic congestion and it therefore needs to implement actions and policies that reduce car dependency and encourage the use of public transport. Driven by this goal, the MALT requested a study to evaluate both the transit users’ perceptions of the quality and adequacy of the public transport service and a characterization of the mobility patterns of the transit population in the MAL. The goal was to gather information to support the definition of policies aimed at increasing public transport use. This paper presents data from the qualitative study undertaken, involving public transport users of different transport modes. The following questions guide the analysis: (i) how do public transport users perceive the service provided? (ii) how do public transport users perceive the service provided within different transport modes (road, railway, river)? and (iii) what aspects encourage or deter people from using public transport? This paper is organized as follows. This Introduction is followed by a literature review focusing on factors affecting passengers’ perceptions of public transport service. The methodology is described in Section3 and the results are presented in Section4. Section5 completes the paper with the discussion and conclusion. 2. Literature Review Transit users suffer the consequences of poor service quality and their judgment of service quality is therefore crucial. The perception of service quality is a subjective evaluation of the service provided, based on the interaction between the user and the service provider (Eboli and Mazzulla 2007; Zeithaml et al. 2006). The assessment of service quality involves identifying service parameters or attributes that directly affect the users’ perception. Quality of service parameters can be classified in two broad categories (Das and Pandit 2013): quantitative parameters and qualitative parameters. The former includes quantifiable attributes like “travel time”, “waiting time”, “walking distance”, etc. The latter includes parameters that passengers can observe directly but cannot evaluate numerically; instead, the passenger expresses how “good” or “bad” they find the service (e.g., “driver/conductor behavior”, “safety and security”, “fare collection system”, “maintenance”, “information availability”) (Kittelson & Associates, Inc. et al. 2003). The list of factors in each category is not closed and new factors are constantly being added to reflect the changes and improvements in public transport service, such as “route characteristics”, “administration of complaints”, “use of eco-friendly technology” (Eboli and Mazzulla 2007), “supervision”, “co-passenger behavior” (Andaleeb et al. 2007), “deviation from optimal route” (dell’Olio et al. 2010), “frequency of buses during evening hours, during the day and on weekends” (Hensher et al. 2010). Researchers argue that users’ perceptions of quality of service vary because of situational circumstances (for example, urban vs rural context (Taylor et al. 2009)), users’ personal needs (Simons et al. 2014; Levin 2019), their experience from service providers and their assessment of what can be delivered (Das and Pandit 2013). Understanding this diversity is a complex task and different methodological approaches can be used. Although a survey-based approach has the benefit of working with large samples of individuals (e.g., Belwal and Belwal 2010; De Witte et al. 2008; Fellesson and Friman 2008; Guirao et al. 2015; van Exel and Rietveld 2010), its use of standardized closed-end questions limits the depth of the information gathered. Qualitative research does not give Soc. Sci. 2019, 8, 150 3 of 16 statistically robust findings, but it does permit an in-depth exploration of what people think, feel or do and, crucially, why. By allowing people to express themselves in their own words, the qualitative researcher finds out what is important for them, why they behave as they do and what barriers there may be to a change in their behavior (Yin 2015). Research on public transportation using qualitative methods has provided new insights leading to a better understanding of transit problems. Different qualitative techniques have played a substantial role in furthering our understanding of transport-related issues in the areas of travel behavior and mode choice, policy guidance, infrastructure, design and operation, attitudes and perceptions, passenger information systems and public consultation (Grosvenor 2000). For example, Beirão and Cabral(2007) conducted 24 in-depth interviews with regular and occasional users of public transport and car users to gain insights into key factors influencing travel mode choice and attitudes towards transport. Their main conclusion was that public transport use could be increased if the levels of service demanded by passengers were provided. Buys and Miller(2011) explored Brisbane, Australia residents’ transportation practices and perceptions via
Load more

Recommended publications
  • MAKING TAXIS SAFER Managing Road Risks for Taxi Drivers, Their Passengers and Other Road Users
    MAKING TAXIS SAFER Managing road risks for taxi drivers, their passengers and other road users May 2016 About PRAISE Using the roads is a necessary part of our working lives. But it’s an ordinary activity that leads to an incredibly high level of injury and death. ETSC’s PRAISE (Preventing Road Accidents and Injuries for the Safety of Employees) project addresses the safety aspects of driving at work and driving to work. Its aim is to promote best practice in order to help employers secure high road safety standards for their employees. The project is co-ordinated by the ETSC secretariat with the support of Fundación MAPFRE, the German Road Safety Council (DVR), the Belgian Road Safety Institute (IBSR-BIVV) and the Dräger Foundation. MAKING TAXIS SAFER Contributing Experts For more information ETSC gratefully acknowledges the invaluable contributions of European Transport Safety Council the following experts in the preparation of this report: 20 Avenue des Celtes B-1040 Brussels Fernando Camarero Rodríguez – Fundación MAPFRE Tel: +32 2 230 4106 [email protected] Ellen Schmitz-Felten – Kooperationsstelle Hamburg IFE www.etsc.eu/praise Lieven Beyl - Belgian Road Safety Institute Jacqueline Lacroix - German Road Safety Council The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of ETSC and do not necessarily Will Murray - Interactive Driving Systems represent the views of the sponsors or the organisations to which the PRAISE experts belong. Deirdre Sinnott - Health And Safety Authority, Ireland Bettina Velten – Draeger Foundation © 2016 European Transport Safety Council MAKING TAXIS SAFER Managing road risks for taxi drivers, their passengers and other road users Authors Luana Bidasca Ellen Townsend May 2016 CONTENTS 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Interior Noise Reduction Approach for Monorail System
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by UTHM Institutional Repository INTERIOR NOISE REDUCTION APPROACH FOR MONORAIL SYSTEM DJAMAL HISSEIN DIDANE A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the Degree of Master of Science in Railway Engineering Center For Graduate Studies Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia JANUARY 2014 v ABSTRACT This study presents an overview on the possibilities of interior noise reduction for monorail system using passive means. Nine samples out of three materials were subjected for noise test and the performance of each sample was observed. It is found that all of these samples have proved to reduce a significant amount noise at low and high frequencies even though the amount reduced differ from one sample to another. It is also been noticed that this reductions were denominated by means of absorption for some samples such as those from rubber material, and it was dominated by means of reflection for some others such as those from aluminum composite and paper composite. Moreover, from these different acoustic properties of each material, the whereabouts to install every material is different as well. It was suggested that, the rubber material should be installed on the upper floor of the monorail while, the paper composite should be installed under floor, and the aluminum composite should be installed at the outer parts from the monorail such as the apron door, ceiling, etc. However, despite their promising potential to reduce noise, there were few uncertainties with some samples at certain frequency, for example samples from aluminum composite could not reduce noise at 1250 Hz which denotes that it is not a good practice to use this material at that frequency.
    [Show full text]
  • Road Transport Infrastructure
    © IEA ETSAP - Technology Brief T14 – August 2011 - www.etsap.org Road Transport Infrastructure HIGHLIGHTS TECHNOLOGY STATUS - Road transport infrastructure enables movements of people and goods within and between countries. It is also a sector within the construction industry that has demonstrated significant developments over time and ongoing growth, particularly in the emerging economies. This brief highlights the different impacts of the road transport infrastructure, including those from construction, maintenance and operation (use). The operation (use) phase of a road transport infrastructure has the most significance in terms of environmental and economic impact. While the focus in this phase is usually on the dominant role of tail-pipe GHG emissions from vehicles, the operation of the physical infrastructure should also accounted for. In total, the road transport infrastructure is thought to account for between 8% and 18% of the full life cycle energy requirements and GHG emissions from road transport. PERFORMANCE AND COSTS - Energy consumption, GHG emissions and costs of road transport infrastructure fall broadly into the three phases: (i) construction, (ii) maintenance, and (iii) operation (decommissioning is not included in this brief). The construction and maintenance costs of a road transport infrastructure vary according to location and availability of raw materials (in general, signage and lighting systems are not included in the construction costs). GHG emissions resulting from road construction have been estimated to be between 0.37 and 1.07 ktCO2/km for a 13m wide road – depending on construction methods. Maintenance over the road lifetime (typically 40 years) can also be significant in terms of costs, energy consumption and GHG emissions.
    [Show full text]
  • Applying the Island Transport Equivalent to the Greek Islands 179 Roundtable Discussion Paper Lekakou Maria Remoundos George Stefanidaki Evangelia
    CPB Corporate Partnership Board Applying the Island Transport Equivalent to the Greek Islands 179 Roundtable Discussion Paper Lekakou Maria Remoundos George Stefanidaki Evangelia University of the Aegean, Chios Applying the Island Transport Equivalent to the Greek Islands 179 Roundtable Discussion Paper Lekakou Maria Remoundos George Stefanidaki Evangelia University of the Aegean, Chios The International Transport Forum The International Transport Forum is an intergovernmental organisation with 62 member countries. It acts as a think tank for transport policy and organises the Annual Summit of transport ministers. ITF is the only global body that covers all transport modes. The ITF is politically autonomous and administratively integrated with the OECD. The ITF works for transport policies that improve peoples’ lives. Our mission is to foster a deeper understanding of the role of transport in economic growth, environmental sustainability and social inclusion and to raise the public profile of transport policy. The ITF organises global dialogue for better transport. We act as a platform for discussion and pre- negotiation of policy issues across all transport modes. We analyse trends, share knowledge and promote exchange among transport decision-makers and civil society. The ITF’s Annual Summit is the world’s largest gathering of transport ministers and the leading global platform for dialogue on transport policy. The Members of the Forum are: Albania, Armenia, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
    [Show full text]
  • FREIGHT TRANSPORT by ROAD Session Outline
    FREIGHT TRANSPORT BY ROAD Session outline • Group discussion • Presentation Industry overview Industry and products classification Sample selection Data collection Pricing methods Index calculation Quality changes adjustment Weighting UK experience • Peer discussion Group discussion: Freight transport by road • What do you know about this industry? • How important is this industry in your country? • Is there any specific national characteristics to this industry (e.g. specific regulation, market conditions etc)? • What do you think are the main drivers of prices in this industry? Industry overview/1 • Main component of freight transport industry • Includes businesses directly transporting goods via land transport (excluding rail) and businesses renting out trucks with drivers; removal services are also included. • Traditionally, businesses focussed on road haulage only or having ancillary storage and warehousing services for goods in transiting Industry overview/2 • More differentiation now, offering a bundle of freight-related services or supply-chain solutions including: • Freight forwarding • Packaging, crating etc • Cargo consolidation and handling • Stock control and reordering • Storage and warehousing • Transport consultancy services • Vehicle recover, repair and maintenance • Documentation handling • Negotiating return loads • Information management services • Courier services Example - DHL • Major player in the logistic and transportation industry Definitions • Goods lifted: the weight of goods carried, measured in tonnes • Goods
    [Show full text]
  • Best Practices in Road Transport: an Exploratory Study
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Fernández Vázquez-Noguerol, Mar; González-Boubeta, Iván; Domínguez- Caamaño, Pablo; Prado-Prado, José Carlos Article Best practices in road transport: An exploratory study Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management (JIEM) Provided in Cooperation with: The School of Industrial, Aerospace and Audiovisual Engineering of Terrassa (ESEIAAT), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) Suggested Citation: Fernández Vázquez-Noguerol, Mar; González-Boubeta, Iván; Domínguez- Caamaño, Pablo; Prado-Prado, José Carlos (2018) : Best practices in road transport: An exploratory study, Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management (JIEM), ISSN 2013-0953, OmniaScience, Barcelona, Vol. 11, Iss. 2, pp. 250-261, http://dx.doi.org/10.3926/jiem.2525 This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/188862 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte.
    [Show full text]
  • Sector Assessment (Summary): Transport (Road Transport [Nonurban])1
    Additional Financing of Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Corridors 2, 5, and 6 (Dushanbe–Kurgonteppa) Road Project (RRP TAJ 49042) SECTOR ASSESSMENT (SUMMARY): TRANSPORT (ROAD TRANSPORT [NONURBAN])1 1. Sector Performance, Problems, and Opportunities 1. Development challenges. Tajikistan is a landlocked mountainous country in Central Asia bordered by Afghanistan, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Kyrgyz Republic, and Uzbekistan. Despite its strategic location, the country had a gross domestic product per capita of just $819, with 32% of the national population living below the poverty line in 2017. Almost 70% of the population lives in rural areas, in territory that is largely mountainous. Tajikistan depends heavily on its road transport corridors to support investment, job creation, trade, and ultimately economic growth and poverty reduction. Ailing transport infrastructure and geographic isolation result in high transport costs and limited access to markets and services, posing significant barriers to the country’s economic and social development. 2. Transport sector overview. The Ministry of Transport (MOT) is responsible for roads, railways, and airports; transport sector policy; and related regulation, planning, operations, and investment. The MOT is headed by a minister and three deputy ministers, and divided into seven departments that include 90 staff at MOT headquarters. The MOT’s subordinate organizations include six state enterprises for transport management and 61 state enterprises for highway maintenance. The country’s transport network comprises approximately 27,000 kilometers (km) of roads, 680 km of railway tracks, and four international airports. Demand for road transport is outpacing demand for other transport modes, with approximately 68% of cargo and 90% of passenger traffic carried by road.
    [Show full text]
  • Transport and Its Infrastructure
    5 Transport and its infrastructure Coordinating Lead Authors: Suzana Kahn Ribeiro (Brazil), Shigeki Kobayashi (Japan) Lead Authors: Michel Beuthe (Belgium), Jorge Gasca (Mexico), David Greene (USA), David S. Lee (UK), Yasunori Muromachi (Japan), Peter J. Newton (UK), Steven Plotkin (USA), Daniel Sperling (USA), Ron Wit (The Netherlands), Peter J. Zhou (Zimbabwe) Contributing Authors: Hiroshi Hata (Japan), Ralph Sims (New Zealand), Kjell Olav Skjolsvik (Norway) Review Editors: Ranjan Bose (India), Haroon Kheshgi (USA) This chapter should be cited as: Kahn Ribeiro, S., S. Kobayashi, M. Beuthe, J. Gasca, D. Greene, D. S. Lee, Y. Muromachi, P. J. Newton, S. Plotkin, D. Sperling, R. Wit, P. J. Zhou, 2007: Transport and its infrastructure. In Climate Change 2007: Mitigation. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [B. Metz, O.R. Davidson, P.R. Bosch, R. Dave, L.A. Meyer (eds)], Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA. Transport and its infrastructure Chapter 5 Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................... 325 5.5 Policies and measures ..................................... 366 5.5.1 Surface transport ............................................... 366 5.1 Introduction ..................................................... 328 5.5.2 Aviation and shipping ......................................... 375 5.2 Current status and future trends ................ 328 5.5.3 Non-climate policies ..........................................
    [Show full text]
  • Long-Distance Bus Services in Europe: Concessions Or Free Market?
    JOINT TRANSPORT RESEARCH CENTRE Discussion Paper No. 2009-21 December 2009 Long-Distance Bus Services in Europe: Concessions or Free Market? Didier VAN DE VELDE Delft University of Technology, Netherlands SUMMARY INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 3 1. COUNTRY CASES ............................................................................................................ 3 1.1 Scope and Definitions ............................................................................................. 4 1.2 United Kingdom ..................................................................................................... 5 1.3. Sweden.................................................................................................................... 6 1.4. Norway ................................................................................................................... 7 1.5 Poland ..................................................................................................................... 9 1.6. Spain ..................................................................................................................... 10 1.7. Italy ....................................................................................................................... 10 1.8. France ................................................................................................................... 11 1.9. Germany ..............................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • On Transport Service Selection in Intermodal Rail/Road
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Bierwirth, Christian; Kirschstein, Thomas; Meisel, Frank Article On Transport Service Selection in Intermodal Rail/ Road Distribution Networks BuR - Business Research Provided in Cooperation with: VHB - Verband der Hochschullehrer für Betriebswirtschaft, German Academic Association of Business Research Suggested Citation: Bierwirth, Christian; Kirschstein, Thomas; Meisel, Frank (2012) : On Transport Service Selection in Intermodal Rail/Road Distribution Networks, BuR - Business Research, ISSN 1866-8658, VHB - Verband der Hochschullehrer für Betriebswirtschaft, German Academic Association of Business Research, Göttingen, Vol. 5, Iss. 2, pp. 198-219, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF03342738 This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/103715 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence.
    [Show full text]
  • Report of the Committee Constituted to Propose Taxi Policy Guideline to Promote Urban Mobility
    Government of India Ministry of Road Transport and Highways REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE CONSTITUTED TO PROPOSE TAXI POLICY GUIDELINE TO PROMOTE URBAN MOBILITY December 2016 Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 2 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE CONSTITUTED TO PROPOSE TAXI POLICY GUIDELINES TO PROMOTE URBAN MOBILITY ............................................................................................................................. 8 I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 8 II. BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................................... 11 III. UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES FOR GUIDELINES OF TAXI POLICY: ........................................... 13 IV. NEED FOR AN EFFICIENT SHARED MOBILITY PLATFORM: ................................................ 13 V. PROPOSAL: .......................................................................................................................... 16 1. CITY TAXI PERMIT SCHEME- .............................................................................................. 16 2. ALL INDIA TOURIST TAXI PERMIT SCHEME:....................................................................... 18 3. GENERAL CONDITIONS APPLICABLE TO ALL TAXIS: .......................................................... 19 4. BIKE SHARING: ................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Oxford Road Transport Roads
    Oxford Road Transport Roads Reading’s position on the main road between London and Bath was central to its economic growth. After Queen Anne visited the spa town in 1702 ‘taking the waters’ at Bath became popular and fashionable for the wealthy. Stagecoach services on the London- Bath road stopped at Reading and inns such as the Angel, Broad Face, George and Saracen’s Head flourished. By 1840 there were 110 inns in Reading. They provided food and accommodation for travellers and venues for social and political meetings, dinners and entertainments for people living in Reading. The George, the Turk’s Head and the Sun are still trading today. The volume of coach traffic hinted at the future growth of commuter traffic. It was observed that the new coach services enabled ‘the Reading man who leaves home in the morning to transact what business he may have to do in London and to return the same evening’. Road journeys remained slow, cold and uncomfortable. The cost of travel by coach to London from Reading was around 8 shillings, more than an average week’s wage. Frequent roadside robberies made this form of transport increasingly perilous. These factors combined to have negative impact on Reading’s trade and industry in the decades before the arrival of the railway. Horse and Carriage This image depicts Reading’s bustling Market Place. Until the 12th century the market was originally situated near St Mary’s Church further to the west. However, under the commands of the Abbot the market was moved closer to the Abbey and its main Gate.
    [Show full text]